SINGAPORE — More thundery showers can be expected over Singapore in the second half of March, which will not be as warm as the first half of the month, the Meteorological Service Singapore (MSS) said on Tuesday (March 16).

The weather agency said that the daily temperatures in the coming fortnight are forecast to range between 24°C and 33°C on most days, though the mercury could hit 34°C on a few warm days “particularly when there are few clouds in the sky”.

MSS said that in the first fortnight of March 2021, the daily maximum temperature on most days were above 34°C, adding that on March 2, the highest daily maximum temperature of 35.6°C was recorded at Tengah.

For the second half of the month, moderate to heavy thundery showers are expected over parts of the island in the afternoon on most days, particularly in the second half of the fortnight, it added.

“There could be a few days where the showers may extend into the evening.

“Overall, the rainfall for March 2021 is forecast to be near normal over most parts of the island,” MSS said.

The agency said that the wetter conditions will be due to the monsoon rain band which is expected to lie close to the equatorial Southeast Asia region as well as the Madden-Julian Oscillation that is forecast to be in its wet phase over Singapore in the latter half of the fortnight.

The Madden-Julian Oscillation, MSS said, is characterised as an “eastward propagation of clouds and rainfall over the tropical regions from the Indian Ocean to the western Pacific Ocean with periods of between 30 and 60 days on average”.

During this period, MSS said that the prevailing low-level winds are forecast to blow from the northwest or northeast on most days as the weather continues to be influenced by the prevailing Northeast Monsoon.

For the daily weather forecast, the public may visit the websites of MSS or the National Environment Agency. They may also download the myENV mobile application or the Weather@SG app by MSS.